Tuesday, August 28, 2012

You
have a great idea and a compelling story to tell. It’s clear in your mind what
story you want to share, but the question is how do you share it to the world?
Paper can help.

Paper
remains an important medium in the digital age. In fact, the business industry
still largely depends on paper when it comes to documenting important events.
In today’s business environment, electronic media is not only the best way to communicate
with prospects; print and online messages should complement with each other.

In
a 2009
research conducted by Harris Interactive® for Earthtone, a majority of
Americans say that printed materials are easier to read than their digital
counterparts. In fact, 64% of office workers prefer ink on paper to a computer
screen when reading. They said that they are more comfortable reading materials
when they can touch and feel them since it’s easier to navigate hard copies
than electronic documents.

A
Kindle
experiment conducted by University of Virginia Darden School of Business
also revealed that most Darden students prefer not to use electronic reading
devices in the B-school classroom. Michael Koenig, director of MBA operations
of Darden, said that the Kindle is “not flexible enough. … It could be clunky.
You can’t move between pages, documents, charts and graphs simply or easily
enough compared to the paper alternatives.’’ The experiment also argued that
people may actually learn better from a book or printed report than through a
computer.

Consumers
also continue to choose print over other mediums as evidenced by the Doremus/Financial Times study which showed
that 64% of the executives surveyed said they pay more attention to print ads
than online ads. Similarly, consumers still read or scan promotional materials
they receive in the mail according to the Mail Moment Study conducted in 2004
in behalf of the U.S. Postal Service. The study revealed that 80% of consumers
sort through the direct mail materials they receive almost immediately.

People
may have varied reasons for preferring print over electronic
media—practicality, ease of use, familiarity—but whatever it is, no one is
saying that electronic media is not practical and effective. However, it’s
clear that the enduring popularity of print in business will continue and will
have a significant impact on both consumers and the company’s bottom line. With
print and electronic media complementing each other, the possibilities are
endless.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Too often clients just nod
with everything you say and recommend, and then go home to realize that what
you suggested doesn’t fit their need. Instead of finalizing the details and
getting on with the print job, you end up wasting time redoing everything until
it fits your client’s need.

The ability of a printing
company to design materials for print and get clients involved early in the
process is the key factor to success
in the print industry. According to an article by MyPrintResource,
what sets a print shop from others is its ability to “carry design right
through the finishing process, match printed materials to a client’s Web
presence, create special folds and effects, and design pieces that save the
client money in mailing costs.”

Print providers agree that
carrying the design from start to finish is crucial in gaining
customer satisfaction. Lou Goldberg, president of New Haven, CT-based
Goodcopy, said that “The more control you have over the job, the better it is
for everyone. You want to be able to make your client happy. Deadlines are very
tight, and if you can control all aspects of the project, you can meet
everyone’s needs.”

Similarly, the ability of the
print company to match print and web design is crucial as more and more
companies these days are directing their prospective clients to their websites.
Additionally, if the company can offer cost-effective mailing cost, the more
they will become valued partners of their trusted clients.

Good graphic design capabilities
partnered with impressive print solutions will definitely help print shops grow
over the years. As Goldberg said, “customers like one-stop shopping” these
days. Providing them everything they need in one place will encourage them to
come back again and again.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

In an article written for The MacObserver entitled “The
Problem with Magazines and the iPad”, David Winograd talked about the
problem with magazine storage on the iPad. For him, and certainly for many
others, keeping digital versions of magazines is quite an issue since they take
up a lot of storage space. “The more interactive the issue, the more storage it
takes,” said Winograd. “I’ve watched the digital magazine market progress from
mere .pdf files — which some still are — to immersive interactive supersets of
print versions. The better ones will take more and more storage.”

Winograd added that the
digital magazine market is quite confusing these days since some digital
magazines like Macworld
cost more than their print version. He expected that there will be savings in
not having to physically print a magazine copy, but it turns out that the
digital magazine market doesn’t run that way.

Sarah Rotman Epps, a
principal analyst at Forrester Research, as quoted in an article
by Nick Bilton of the New York Times, said that publishers want to create
an exact replica of their magazine including the ads, thus, making digital
magazines extremely huge. For instance, Wired
can take as long as 40 minutes to download through a basic home DSL connection
while The New Yorker can take from 15
to 20 minutes.

In another
article written by Bob Sacks, which basically discusses Winograd’s article,
Sacks agreed with Winograd on the problem of large download size of digital
magazines, but he said that this problem will likely be solved in the next few
years.

Sacks pointed out that
computer processing speed is getting faster and faster each year. He cited two
forecasts that tackle the issue on speed: (1) by 2020, processing speed will be
30x faster than today, and (2) the processing speed combined with FCC
implementing policies to make 100 megabits per second the average US broadband
speed, 6x what it is today. The result is a faster download speed which will
allow people to buy, store, and retrieve as many digital magazines as they desire.
Additionally, personal searches will be possible, providing people a quicker
way to find and download articles they want. Of course, there will be privacy
issues here but that, too, will be addressed by new technologies.

In the end, Sacks concluded
that we are still in the early stages of our digital future while Winograd said
that he’ll be happy to pay extra money for a 128GB iPad until he can find a
better way to manage his digital magazines.

The process will make use
of syringes that are controlled by robots to create objects from gel-based ink
where the chemicals and catalysts are mixed. Prof.
Lee Cronin said that they are “mixing the concept of the glassware and the
chemicals together in the 3D printer to create what we call 'reactionware’ …
you print the last reactionary agent first and then build other chemical layers
above, finally adding a liquid at the top. The liquid goes to layer one making
a new molecule which goes to the next layer creating another and so on until at
the bottom you get your prescription drug out."

Researchers have used
bathroom sealant for their reactor, but until now the substances they have
created are not yet suitable for human consumption. They also intend to
replicate the drugs already available in the market so pre-set recipes will be
available for download to doctors and individuals.

With the growing concern
for the environment, more and more printers these days are making their own
move to commit themselves—and their company—to protect our natural resources. The
most recent among them is the Sustainability
Report released by Epson for this year. The report contains accounts of how
the company is addressing its responsibility to the environment.

One of them is the
introduction of the SmallInOne
inkjet series launched in 2011 as a response to the growing need for
environment-friendly printers. According to Epson, this printer is much smaller
than its competitors. Another is the increasing use of the company’s Micro
Piezo printhead technology. This technology allows materials to be created
in “high quality output, reliability and high cost performance”. Epson also
expanded its 3LCD projector lineup, launched a head-mounted display, and used its
impressive technology to provide wearable and low power products and services
to the healthcare and sports industry.

According to Minoru Usui, President
of Epson, “relentlessly pursuing innovation in compact, energy-saving,
high-precision technologies, Epson can create fresh customer value that matches
the world’s desire for smaller, more powerful products that have lower power
requirements and lower environmental impacts”.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Deltiology is the term
for studying and collecting postcards. Currently, deltiology is the third
largest hobby in the world next to coin and stamp collecting. It was a huge
craze in the 20th century, particularly from 1907 to 1913. In fact,
the US Post office recorded 667,777,798 postcards
mailed in June 30, 1908.

However, with advancement
in technology, postcards have been ignored more and more. They are uncommon
these days and difficult to find in stores.

The latest craze in
postcard these days is Postcrossing.
It’s an online project where members can send and receive real postcards
anywhere in the world. As of 2010, there are already 200,000 members from 200
countries.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Printers and consumers have constantly been barraged with the high cost of ink. Perhaps you have heard that printer ink costs more per millimeter than Dom Perignon champagne. Why is this so? The truth is there is no complicated answer for this question. The simple truth is that manufacturers can choose to make it that expensive.

In an article posted in PCWorld entitled, 16 PC Mysteries Solved! several reasons were given to explain the high cost of ink. One, as stated earlier, is because ink manufacturers can get away with charging that much. Although there are remanufactured inks which costs lower they are often messy to install and deliver lower print quality. And second, it’s hard to duplicate ink.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Printers were once an
essential peripheral. Recently, though, they have become nothing more just a ‘peripheral’.
As a result, sales have considerably declined. What’s to blame? Mobile devices
and cloud storage—that’s according to a recent article on ReadWriteWeb.

Meg Whitman, HP CEO, said that the company experienced
sales loss in printers and ink. What previously accounted for 20% of their
revenue has now declined—commercial printer sales is down by 5% and consumer
printer by 15%. Similarly, Lexmark, which takes
93% of their revenue from laser and inkjet printers, said that they expect a
12% decrease in revenue this quarter.

The invention of the movable-type
printing system in 1040 AD revolutionized the printing world. It allowed
for quick and easy printing of books, materials, and even money. Sadly though,
only a few people these days make use of this printing system. It’s a dying
profession as more and more printers shift to more modern printing techniques.

In an article of Cindy Sui for
BBC News Asia, she relates
a story of one man who until now makes Chinese characters out of lead. Chang
Chieh-kuan, 59, owns the last word-making shop in Taiwan—the Ri Xing Typography.
He inherited it from his father and kept it running despite losses. From the
outside, the shop gives no sign of the relics it stores inside: molds,
character types, and many other historical items.

The shop has 120,000 moulds
of different characters and 10 million or more of lead characters. From its
conception in 1969 to the 1980s, the shop had 7 type-casting machines that ran
nonstop each day with more than 30 people working regularly. But with the
introduction of offset
and computer typesetting, the number of print shops and print runs has dropped
drastically.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

This year’s Laser Die-cutting
Workshops will take place at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center,
Rosemont, IL, on September 11 to 13. This event will showcase the latest in
label and package printing secrets. It will showcase effective and inexpensive
solutions to help clients deal with the need for label variations and
personalization.

Hundreds of live
demonstrations and machine tests will be seen at the expo. This is a great
opportunity for companies and stakeholders to understand laser cutting
technology. Four manufacturers, Sei Spa, Spartanics, AB Graphic International, and Delta Industrial will set up
their machines and take part in four workshops with each testing a different
cutter profile: blank office product labels, prime product labels, industrial
labels and free label solutions.